Long-tailed Tits through a lens

Not often the Long-Tailed Tits hang around long enough in my garden for me to snap them with my digital camera through my hastily aimed and focused spotting scope.

Earlier today, a little flock of them breezed through, adults and juveniles. Giggling round the suet feeders. Swarming up and down the herbaceous borders, twittering pinkish brown and white dynamos attached to a cleft black tail like a ruler with white calibrations on the edges! Then they were gone again, this little family of half a dozen.

I'd never make it with the paparazzi, but I hope you'll enjoy my amateur shots of these tiny stars!

Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) at my suet feeder near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK

Long-tailed Tit (right) sharing the suet slab with a Robin

Acrobatic Long-tailed Tit with suet pellet gripped in its claw as it nibbled the treat

You're game birds - not garden birds!

He's back! For a second year running!

Only this time, Mr Pheasant's got company on my back lawn...

Who's that girl?

Don't be shy! It's Mrs Pheasant!

They spent a few hours feeding on what other legit garden birds had dropped from the feeders

Explored every corner of the property at their leisure...

Is this my best profile?

Or this? Did you get my crest thingummy and earflaps?

Enjoying their cheap away day from the fields...

Have I missed a bit of that seed?

Time to whirr off back home. Till next time.

Photos star a brace of Yorkshire-dwelling Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) in the middle of May, in a suburban back garden close to rural woods, fields and farmland.


Photos taken on an old Nikon Coolpix 3700 3.2 Mega pixels 3x optical zoom camera, hand held through a Barr & Stroud Sahara 15-45x spotting scope by the author. Yes, I know there's a lot of focus issues and "vignetting" in these shots. Still really hope you enjoy meeting these characters that brightened up my afternoon!

Do TWO coos, Paddy: the love of two Woodpigeons

Here's lookin at you ,  kid!

Woodpigeons are having a high old time at the moment! This pair spent most daylight hours for the last couple of days wooing each other. Well, Lady Woody fed herself up, ready for egg-laying and Mr Woody followed her round, rolling his bloated crop and tummy on the grass while "mooning" his back end where he hoped she might notice!

 

 

Ignore him, he might go away

 

 

 

 

 

Like the Collared Doves I blogged about yesterday, there was plenty of shouting the odds today.
The Collared Doves do a relatively genteel: "U-ni-ted! U-nit-ed! U-ni-ted! U-ni-ted!"
The Woodpigeon's usual chant goes more like: "Do TWO coos, Paddy! Do TWO coos, Paddy!"
No wonder the missus looks like she doesn't want anybody telling her how many coos to do!

"Better spruce myself up...oooh! Where's me head gone?"

Lots of preening went on. Nobody seemed all that impressed.

Right, blow this for a game of soldiers, I'm legging it!

Collared Doves billing and cooing!

First there was one little dove all on its own...

Then along came another one...

Cuddling up real close...

Billing and cooing...

 

"Have I preened under this armpit?"

Busy birds (and a very cheeky grey squirrel!)

Birds are full of the joys of spring now. Pairing up, gathering nesting material, shouting about how they are the best specimen on show! 

This morning a Goldfinch ventured closer than usual to the house. They often feed at a distance on the niger seeds in a hanging feeder under the fruit tree. Today, four of them were chasing each other up and down, feeding on the seeds of the lilac, flying up to the top of the aspen and sycamores, whizzing through willow and ash, twittering and giggling together. The one seen here came up as far as the pergola to enjoy the sunflower hearts!


Meanwhile, one of my cheeky grey squirrels came to try its luck with the different foods on offer. Here you can see it tucking into to the mixed seeds in a hanging feeder.


The starlings in these photos are enjoying the hopper newly topped up with suet and insect pellets.


House sparrows, both male and female, and a male blackbird can also be seen in these snaps, noisily helping themselves to all they need to be in optimum breeding condition.


I didn't manage to snap the collared dove this morning, but she was busy collecting thin twigs for her nest in a nearby conifer hedge. I'll try again another day.


Here's today's snaps, taken with a Nikon Coolpix 3700 3.2 mega pixel resolution 3x optical zoom-Nikkor lens, shooting through a Barr & Stroud Sahara 15-45 x 60 spotting scope on tripod: